Telephone cross-connect systems, e.g., the 110 connector system, are used to manage main cross-connect and horizontal administration fields in private premises telecommunications equipment. Applications of the 110 connector system have included general building, wiring, premises distribution systems, local area networks, and other private area network installations. The main cross-connect is typically located in an equipment room of a building, and provides termination and cross-connection of network interface equipment, switching equipment, processor equipment, and backbone (riser or campus) wiring. Horizontal cross-connect is typically located in the telecommunications closet of a commercial building, and provides termination and cross-connection of horizontal (to the work area) and backbone wiring. Cross-connects allow for easy administration of routing and rerouting common-equipment data circuits to various parts of a building or campus.
A prior art 110 cross-connect system includes a field-wired cable termination apparatus that is used to organize and administer cable/wiring installations. A typical 110 cross-connect system of the type known in the art includes a wiring block having a plurality of terminal blocks that are field terminated or pre-terminated during manufacture. Assemblies of such wiring blocks often require as many as nine hundred pairs of wires to be terminated. In order to terminate such a large number of wires cost effectively, various tools have been developed in the art for "mass termination" of wires.
For example, a 788H tool includes a five-pair impact tool which is capable of terminating five or more pairs of wires in one insertion stroke of the tool. The 788H mass termination tool has been used for simultaneously seating and trimming five pairs of conductors on an index strip of a wiring block, and for seating a 110C connecting block onto a wiring block for termination. Such prior art tools include a cylindrical handle with a removable head frame, which attaches to the handle with a twist and lock type engagement. The head includes a stuffer and a removable cut-off blade section which allows for replacement of a cutting blade. The stuffer and cut-off blade section are housed in removable the head frame through which the handle is engaged, via a through-bore or the like engagement feature. The removable cut-off blade section is also reversible to allow for seating conductors and for combining an insert/trim function at installation.
Some prior art tools that are similar to the 788H, such as the 788E, are powered by 120 volt alternating current based motors, and have an impact function that is activated by a trigger on a handle. These tools are often used in factory production and other large installations where it is not practical to use a manually activated tool, such as the 788H, because of repetitive motion injuries and speed of assembly. There has been a consistent problem in the art with such mass termination tools because of the large number of cycles required of the tool during operation. More particularly, manufacturing facilities that produce the 110 cross-connect system will manufacture approximately 10,000 preassembled 110-rack systems or more, per year. Such a manufacturing output equates to fifty million or more tool cycles for a 788-type tool at the manufacturing site. Components for such systems that are sold to outside assemblers often require in excess of thirty million tool cycles. Unfortunately, tools such as the 788, that are based on electromotive forces, have an average life span of about 1 week in a manufacturing environment. Such short life spans have required the rebuilding or replacement of tools frequently, at several hundred dollars cost per tool. This retooling produces frequent down time and high replacement costs, along with a concomitant increase in the cost of manufacturing.
There is a need for a high cycle, low cost mass termination tool adapted for use in connection with a 110 cross-connect system that is capable of extended life.